Four years in the political wilderness have wrought a visible change on Burlington’s former mayor Ian Baltutis.
Since his departure from office in 2021, the once-clean cut politico has grown out his hair and cultivated a scruffy goatee that may seem more at home in an artists’ colony than the city’s council chambers. His mien also shows signs of maturity that weren’t evident a decade ago when he became the youngest person to serve as Burlington’s mayor shortly after his 30th birthday.
“I now have a four-year term, so I’m no longer bound by a two-year election cycle where you need to start running again almost as soon as you’ve been elected.”
– Former mayor and city councilman-elect Ian Baltutis
Now, at the age of 40, Baltutis is preparing to return to the dais as a regular member of the city council – an effective reduction in rank that the one-time mayor seems perfectly happy to accept.
“I now have a four-year term,” he points out contentedly, “so I’m no longer bound by a two-year election cycle where you need to start running again almost as soon as you’ve been elected.”
Baltutis ultimately lost his position as mayor in an electoral duel with then-councilman Jim Butler, whom he had originally defeated in 2015 to win the city’s top office. In his rematch with Baltutis, Butler excoriated the incumbent mayor over his vocal support for transgender rights and the Black Lives Matter movement – things that he insisted have nothing to do with municipal government.
Butler’s call to “get real” seemed to resonate with many of the city’s voters, who went on to elevate him to the mayor’s seat with nearly 58 percent of the vote. Yet, his ouster from power hasn’t exactly tempered Baltutis’ commitment to progressive causes, which literally remained on display in the runup to this year’s election.
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See interview with incoming mayor Beth Kennett: https://alamancenews.com/burlingtons-first-female-mayor-wants-to-hear-more-from-residents/
See interview with incoming city councilman Jeff Smythe, the city’s former police chief: https://alamancenews.com/burlingtons-former-police-chief-will-don-civilian-attire-for-next-assignment-city-councilman/
Throughout his campaign for the city council, Baltutis has flown a multi-striped flag from his front porch on West Davis Street that combines the iconic rainbow of LGBT rights with a palate of additional colors to symbolize various racial and ethnic minorities. Alongside this “Progress Pride” banner, Baltutis has displayed an American flag in the inverted, “sign of distress” manner as a symbolic protest against the nation’s current leadership.
Although Baltutis’ opponents made the most of these banners in their attack ads, their attempts to paint the former mayor as an out-of-touch radical didn’t seem to have much of an impact on the election’s results. By the time the dust settled, Baltutis found himself at the front of the pack – with over 400 votes more than the next highest vote getter in the four-way race for the council’s two available seats. This outcome didn’t really catch Baltutis off balance, however, given the overall tone of the voters throughout the campaign.
“The wind was blowing in the other direction [this election]. What we were hearing at the polls is that people had a desire to vote for Democrats. . . The biggest issue for a lot of people was the cost of living. People are struggling to make ends meet across the community and across the country.”
– Former mayor and city councilman-elect Ian Baltutis
“The wind was blowing in the other direction,” he acknowledges. “What we were hearing at the polls is that people had a desire to vote for Democrats…The biggest issue for a lot of people was the cost of living. People are struggling to make ends meet across the community and across the country.”
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In addition to basic bread-and-butter concerns, Baltutis heard a fair amount of grumbling from the city’s residents about property taxes. This issue had already been on the incoming councilman’s radar due to the various big-ticket ventures that the city has taken on since he left office four years ago.
“We’ve seen a lot of expensive projects like the pickleball courts,” he explains. “But we haven’t seen the bill yet.”
Since his electoral loss in 2021, Baltutis has obtained a master’s degree in regional planning from UNC Chapel Hill, and while he isn’t doing anything with this training professionally, the incoming councilman insists that this degree will pay off in spades when he returns to the council.
I’ve been talking a lot about the need for a capital improvement plan. We can’t just look at what’s in front of our eyes. We have to prepare for the next 10 to 20 years.” – Incoming Burlington city councilman Ian Baltutis
“It’s definitely impacted my perspective,” he asserts. “It has shown me other ways of doing things…I’ve been talking a lot about the need for a capital improvement plan. We can’t just look at what’s in front of our eyes. We have to prepare for the next 10 to 20 years.”
In addition to his emphasis on long-range planning, Baltutis says that he’ll press for greater transparency in municipal government. He also hopes that the next four years will bring some changes to the makeup of the council itself.
“I think you’re going to see some action on increasing the size of the council. It will take a revision of the charter, and an act of the legislature, but I think we can have it done in time for the 2027 election cycle.”
– Incoming city councilman Ian Baltutis
“I think you’re going to see some action on increasing the size of the council,” he predicts. “It will take a revision of the charter, and an act of the legislature, but I think we can have it done in time for the 2027 election cycle.”
A native of Minnesota, Baltutis initially settled in Burlington after he graduated from Elon University in 2008 with a degree in business administration. While still in college, he and a classmate found ways to repurpose orthopedic shock absorbers for new uses, like stilling the clatter of commercial washing machines. They later turned this project into a successful business, which Baltutis continues to operate under the trade name “the Vibration Solution.”
In addition to this manufacturing concern, Baltutis owns Persnickety Books on East Davis Street. He also holds a pilot’s license, enjoys sailing, and devotes much of his remaining time to the renovation of his historic home on West Davis Street.
Although he has gotten divorced since his departure from office in 2021, he now shares this period dwelling with his girlfriend, Nidhi Sachdeva; their two dogs, Lagavulin and Pancake; and a cat.
Despite his crowded schedule, Baltutis insists that he’ll attend to his new role on the council with the same vigor he showed on the campaign trail. The incoming councilman also contends that the city’s residents will see him uphold the same values in office which he professed throughout the campaign.
Even so, Baltutis admits he has made one concession since the election with respect to the flag that flutters outside his home.
“It’s now right side up,” he says. “Being a councilmember-elect, I’m going back to being on the inside of government. So, it made sense to have the flag flying the right way.”
